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F A R JNl K US' REGIS T K R 



69 



Tlie followinn: tkots, however, have been ascer- 

 tHinod by numerous experiments, at some ol'wiiicli 

 1 Inue personally assisted. 



I. That crusiieil bones remain in the soil, for a 

 leniith of lime projinrtionate to tlie size ol' the 

 pieces; ihe dust [)roducinix the most immediate ef- 

 iect, the larger pieces i'oniinuiii<; to show the loajj- 

 est advantage. On arable land their good efl'ects 

 continue lor lour years; on [);isture land l()r eiglit. 



II. On turnips, oats, barley, and wheat, the 

 quantity has been li-om twenty-five to thirty bush- 

 els, per acre; on pasture land, from twenty-five to 

 forty bushels ol' bone dust, early in the spring. 



11 F. The best modeol' application is by the drill, 

 with the seed corn. 



IV. The bones should, when first used, be al- 

 ways applied, tor the sake of correct intbrmation, 

 in varying quantities [ler acre; and on no account, 

 should the liirmeromit to leave, by comparison, a 

 lair portion ol" the field, without any manure. 



AGRICULTURE, &C, IN FRANCE. 



[The following extracts are from a letter re- 

 ceived by Dr. Joseph Johnson of this city, from 

 our late tellow-citizen, J. H. Mey, esq., and fur- 

 nished for publication in the 'Sonthern Agricultu- 

 rist.' — Ed. So. ^gr.l 



'■Paris, (France) 15th Sept. 1887. 



My Dear Sir — The "j^cademie de Sciences'''' 

 amuses me much in their sittings. A subject 

 which may interest you I will state: Dr. Arago 

 asserts, they have dug an Artesian well 1050 feet 

 here without finding water; a thick clay (coat oQ 

 prevented them from perlbrating deeper, but he 

 hopes to overcome the difficulty, and to come to 

 water hot enough to heat apartments, baths, &c. ; 

 (hat heat increases as we descend, and at a cer- 

 tain depth, every th'ms: is in fusion. 



Silk worms. — This is a subject of deep con- 

 cern to our country. Prince and others have 

 propagated and recommended the "moras multi- 

 caulis" as the best subject for that purpose — do 

 ail you can to destroy this opinion. Noisette, 

 who has studied the "morus" more than others, 

 tells me there is none equal to the common white 

 (moras alba) that the morus multicaulis. after four 

 or five years, dies or vegetates badly. This is ex- 

 perience — profit by it. 



In Paris, the culture of the mulberry is progress- 

 ing rapidly. France consumes and exports 81 

 millions of silk. 36 to 40 thousand millions are 

 imported from Italy, and they are pretty certain 

 it will succeed here. 



M. Beauvais, who has studied the silk worm 

 for ten years, asserts that he is certain of his 

 method being the best, w^hich is to keep them at a 

 higher temperature than 18° (Reaumur), multiply 

 by 2i and add 32, to make Fahrenheit\s=72^^. 

 His process is reduced lo this:— 1st, to the employ- 

 ment of a pure and fresh air constantly; 2nd, to a 

 constant dampness of 90" of Desaussure's Hy- 

 grometer; 3d, to slight repasts, as many as 48 the 

 1st. 36 the 2nd, 24 the 3d, and 12 repasts the rest 

 of their education, that is IS days, making in all 

 324 repasts; in this way they consume less leaves 

 than at 18 to 20" with 180.* At the last temper- 



ature, the worms have less vitality than those 

 kept 4 or 5° hio'her, they have a different sensibil- 

 ity iiom the othersv B. says he iias drawn the 

 source of his information from "I)u Ilnlde," and 

 reconmiends translating all Chinese vvoiks on the 

 silkworm. 



In England, I observe tliey have invented a 

 machine lo work by steiuii lor making silk, where- 

 by a girl can do as nuich work as iwo men l()r- 

 rnerly, and the space occupied by the machine not 

 as great as before. 



A medicinal spring has been discovered near 

 Vicenza, the use ol which alone dissolves the 

 stone in the bladder. A man of 70 years old has 

 been cured by drinking it, tlie stone passing off in 

 small particles. As you keep leeches (1 believe) 

 lor your iiifijrmation, it is found out that two or 

 three ounces of "animal charcoal," powdered, in 

 water, kepi a dozen leaches a year. The powder 

 must be washed two or three tintes in boilino- 

 water previously to beiiiir added to the water, in 

 order to disengage it of Ihe sulpJmric acid the coal 

 contains. By disgorging them in a little marine 

 salt, and put again into water, in two or three 

 days they are equal to those never used before. 



M. Vilmoren has rnade trial of a specie.s) of 

 wheat li-om New Trinity, which is said to npeo 

 in 70 days, and to give several crops. V — thinks 

 unfavorably of it. I will obtain some seed for our 

 friend Benjamin, if he is in the land of the livinir. 



The beet root occupies France very much. I 

 shall myself engage in its culture. A hectare 

 (2,632 toises square of 6 leet) yields from 2100 to 

 6000 lbs. more than the same lands in the West 

 tndies, and as much as the lands in the East 

 Indies. The cost at present is 50 fi-ancs to work 

 ii, and it may be made for 30 fiancs ihe 100 lbs. 

 In retail, at present, we pay 20 els. a pound for 

 the best. The government wishes to encourage 

 the West India sugars by laying a doty on their 

 industry at home (taxing it two cents the pound.) 

 1 hope this will r.ot succeed, for since the introduc- 

 tion of the cultivalion of beet root, lands have 

 risen 40, 60, 80 and 100 francs the hectare* — 200,- 

 000 men employed in its culture, &c., 18,000 hec- 

 tares planted, and a capital of 100 millions of 

 francs engaged in it ! ! This speaks volumes. I 

 recollect in 1815, when Napoleon introduced its 

 culture, a caricature was shown of the youn"' 

 king of^ Rome, with a beet root in his moulli, cr}" 

 ing out, '■^Papa dit que c''est da sucreP'' (Papa 

 says 'tis sugar!) 



It is worthy of remark, that provisions and p-o- 

 perty generally on the continent have risen 50 per 

 cent. ! ! My friend Steinmetz at Mannheim, says, 

 money cannot command more than 3 per cent., 

 and with difficulty 4 per cent, on mortgages. 



I recollect seeing at the bank a sample of 

 "Phormium Tenax,''^ manufactured. Michaux 

 persists in saying we ought to encourage the 

 planting of this plant. At 'Pont St.' Remy" a 

 manufactory is established. Its virtues are, the 

 quality is better than flax, and it may be immersed 

 in water 5 to 7 months without injury; for cables, 

 nets, &c.; of course it is valuable. The ''Laurus 

 Camphora''' will no doubt succeed with us. 



"* This idea is no doubt good. Like children— 

 -often and little at a time is better for them than heavy 



meals. The same as in drinkino; — drink slowly and 

 little at a time, and often, satisfies the thirst, as you 

 know, better than swallowing tumblers-full at a 

 draughtl" 



* About 2 3-6ths acres, our measure. 



